Radiation-emitting devices are generally known and used for radiation therapy in the treatment of patients, for example. Typically, a radiation therapy device includes a gantry which can be swiveled around a horizontal axis of rotation in the course of a therapeutic treatment. A linear accelerator is located in the gantry for generating a high-energy radiation beam for therapy. This high radiation beam can be an electron radiation or photon (X-ray) beam. During treatment, the radiation beam is provided on one zone of a patient lying in the isometer of gantry rotation.
The delivery of radiation by a radiation therapy device is normally prescribed and approved by an oncologist with administration by a therapist. Typical therapy involves programming the device by the therapist to deliver the radiation beam at a known and constant rate of a chosen number of monitor units per time period, (e.g., MU/minute), where a monitor unit generically refers to a dose unit of radiation for a chosen calibration. Monitoring of the total dose delivered at a chosen time interval, for example, every 10 milliseconds, determines when the total desired dosage has been provided to end the therapy. Unfortunately, the total dosage may be slightly exceeded, since a sampling point usually does not occur at a precise point of completion of the desired total dosage delivery. Even slight excesses of radiation are considered highly undesirable.
Thus, while typical therapy does provide needed radiation treatment, improvements in the process of delivering a prescribed total dose are still desirable. Accordingly, what is needed is a method and system for providing a desired total dosage with greater control and accuracy, including fractional monitor unit delivery control.